Make it go away!

Like an accident that people say they just must look at, "Jon and Kate Plus Eight" is a train wreck that tops them all.
And now, please, it's time for them to go away. Now. Not later. Now.
It would have been better if they -- and the many like them (Table for 12, Eighteen Kids and Counting) never would have "graced" the airwaves.
But Jon and Kate are especially irritating. And obviously the marriage is over and these poor kids have been in the spotlight, literally, their entire lives.
Why would you do this? The money is an obvious answer. Look how they've upgraded from desperately scraping by to living in a huge house on more than 30 acres.
Look how tan and trim Kate is. Look at Jon's hair plugs.
Look at these poor kids. What will happen to them once TLC turns off the lights and they're left to become normal kids?
A lot of damage has been done already, but let's not encourage these people any further.
Stop glorifying those who opt for raising litters of kids. That's their choice, but it shouldn't make them celebrities.
As evidenced by the Memorial Day marathon of Jon and Kate shows, leading into the present chaos, we've had too much. They've had too much.
Please spare us and maybe, just maybe, they can find some bit of peace and reconciliation.
TLC, do the right thing...

Memorial Day already?

Can someone please tell me how it got to be Memorial Day Weekend already?
Somehow in the hubbub of work and worry about the economy, the “beginning” of summer has slipped up on me and slapped me in the face.
I shouldn’t be that surprised, I suppose.
Having finally gotten my lawnmower in working order — why does a tire go flat and a belt self-destruct just at the time you have to start mowing? — my yard is now somewhat under control.
Although after the rainy days of spring and the mower ailments, it was a bit harder to tackle than other years.
And my yard certainly wouldn’t be welcomed by my neighbors if I lived in town. I happen to like the way dandelions look, I would never put chemicals on my lawn, critters and birds are always welcome and whatever sort of green stuff decides to pop up is OK with me.
Being surrounded by fields means that no one else really has to look at my yard, and that’s just fine by my estimation.
Another hint also should have warned me that the cold months were past.
Two cats decided to call our outdoor area their home about a month ago and, you guessed it, one of them was a female and she just happened to be extremely pregnant.
Since they aren’t tame, you can’t get near them, but they will deign to use food and water bowls I put out for them.
Then, three weeks ago, Wotzit Cat, as we call the mom, had her kittens. First I found them under a bit of wood in our fence row and then they were gone.
I thought — make that, I hoped — that she had taken them back to wherever she had lived before.
Nope. Instead, for some reason, she moved them into our firepit in our yard ... the one that perhaps we would have fired up on Memorial Day to roast veggie dogs and make s’mores.
Now, in an effort to keep the kittens dryer than they would be under the branches that are in the firepit, a few pieces of plywood adorn the top, held up by cement blocks.
Again, I’ll never win the Neighborhood Beautification Award. Again, it’s good I have no neighbors that close.
At least Wotzit, Gary (her apparent beau) and the kittens aren’t complaining.
But kitten season should have smacked me into the realization that summer is hot on my heels.
Summer — my least-favorite season. It’s hot. It’s humid. You have to mow the lawn. People expect you to wear shorts. People wonder why you don’t have a tan.
Oh well, hot weather or not, I suppose I’ll muddle through with all the others who dislike the dog days.
And that might even include the new kittens.

PLEASE VOTE!

Tomorrow is the primary election in Pennsylvania, and in the Montgomery County area there are plenty of candidates running for school board, township, borough, district judge and county judge nominations.
Remember how excited you were to vote in last November's election?
Well, reignite those engines and GO VOTE on Tuesday.
Local elections are extremely important, but far too often turnout is horribly low.
Buck that trend on Tuesday -- VOTE!

THE EXONERATED

GO SEE THIS!
If you possibly can, head to the Theater of the Seventh Sister in the Stahr Performing Arts Center in Lancaster (www.seventhsister.com) for the production of "The Exonerated."
It's a moving, thought-provoking production that looks at the death penalty through true cases of people sent to death row -- who were innocent. It's hard to listen to some of these true accounts and accept that this happened in our justice system. But they did.
And it will make you take a hard look at the death penalty.
It's a great show and you can still catch it through May 3 -- check their Web site for details.
Bonus -- one of the outstanding performers is Scott Alex Miller, an ad salesperson right here at The Reporter in Lansdale.

Really, I can text and drive...

Here's a news alert that we shouldn't have to hear:
Straight from the state Senate:
"On Tuesday, April 28, the Pennsylvania Senate Transportation Committee will vote on numerous measures, including Senate Bill 143, introduced by Senator Robert “Tommy” Tomlinson (R-6th) to prohibit the use of electronic wireless communications devices while driving. The hearing will take place at 11 a.m. in Room 461 of the Main Capitol Building."

Don't you wish this was an unnecessary hearing? Don't you wish that using a cell phone for talking or texting already was against the law?
And don't you wish drivers turned on their lights, obeyed the law and all worked together to make our roadways a safer place?
Dream on...

oh, just enjoy

I know this basic routine all too well... only multiplied.
Enjoy... it's almost Friday

say it ain't so...

You had to figure it would happen... probably sooner than later.
BIg shock... Octomom is in talks for a show featuring her and her litter... perhaps all the way up until they're 18.
Even better, according to thesmokinggun.com, she's applied for a trademark for the name "octomom."
No... she's not in this for the $$$.
Nadya Suleman supposedly is in talks for a television crew to film her family six times a year.
"It is official. I'm going to be doing a show, but it's not a reality show," Suleman told Life & Style magazine, adding that the series would be made by the British arm of independent production company Eyeworks.
She says the show definitely will air in Britain, and perhaps the U.S. --- we can only hope we'll be spared.
But with the likes of Jon and Kate and the Duggars, let's face it ... there's really not much hope.
And if you haven't been keeping up with the oh-so-fertile Duggars (lucky you), here's an update. Now the son and his wife are expecting (another BIG shock) and of course it was all revealed on their show ... 18 Kids and Counting. Oh, PLEASE stop counting!
And if that wasn't enough, they stooped to even lower lows by exploiting the dying grandfather, propping him up in a wheelchair for a birthday party with all the cameras rolling.
As someone who has been through hospice with a loved one, this was just unspeakable to see this poor man treated this way.
I generally never watch this show... but it was like a train wreck... I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
And with Octomom and shows like "Table for 12," I can't believe what people will do for their 15 minutes of "fame."